WESTERVILLE — Freshman Natalie Smith scored a goal in the waning seconds to give the Otterbein women's soccer team a 1-1 draw with Wittenberg on Wednesday night.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (5-1-2 overall), Wittenberg (2-3-1 overall)
• Venue: Memorial Stadium - Westerville, Ohio

The Game

• Otterbein dominated the scoring chances in what was a scoreless first half, finishing the opening 45 minutes with an 11-1 advantage in shots. Just one of those shots was on goal, however. The Cardinals also entered halftime with a 6-0 edge in corner kicks.
• The Tigers' best scoring opportunity of the first half came on a free kick with 13 minutes remaining, which resulted in a header shot that sent the ball into the back of the net. But Wittenberg was called for an offsides violation, nullifying the goal.
• Wittenberg took a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute off of a free kick. The ball hit the crossbar off the hands of Otterbein junior goalkeeper Ella Schwertfager and found its way into a scrum of players before being kicked into the back of the net by the Tigers' Emma Rhodis.
• Otterbein freshman Keaton Aspacher put herself in position for a scoring opportunity in the 72nd minute, but her shot sailed wide right.
• The Cardinals were awarded a corner kick with just over six minutes remaining that led to a shot by redshirt senior Jada Leyland, but it missed left of the goal. A shot from freshman Natalie Smith with about three minutes left was saved by Wittenberg goalkeeper Lily Winkle.
• With the clock ticking down under 10 seconds, a Wittenberg handball violation gave Otterbein a free kick from the 15-yard line, and Smith sent the ball past Winkle into the left side of the goal for the tying score with just 5.3 seconds left.
• Schwertfager played all 90 minutes in goal for the Cardinals and recorded three saves.
• Otterbein out-shot Wittenberg 18-6 in the game and held a 6-4 edge in shots on goal and 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Video Highlight

• Natalie Smith's game-tying goal

Quotes

• Freshman Natalie Smith on her tying goal: "Personally, I couldn't breathe, I was trying to find some oxygen. But as soon as she batted that ball (on the handball violation), I put the ball down. The goalie was trying to organize her players on the near post, and I saw the far post with a little bit of open space and chipped the ball over the defender who was trying to block my shot, and it went in."
• Head coach Brandon Koons: "This was a difficult game for us. We felt we could have been leading at halftime, but we didn't take care of our chances and let them hang around, and they scored on the opportunity they had. This was a good opportunity for us to learn what we're all about, and the fact that we kept fighting until the last second and not getting the equalizer until five seconds to go shows we never gave up. We talked tonight about composed urgency, and that moment required that. We needed to be very urgent, but we had to take a deep breath and be composed, and Natalie did that perfectly."

Notables

• Smith's goal was the first of her career.
• Schwertfager boasts a career record of 25-8-7 in goal with 12 shutouts.
• The Cardinals have recorded five shutouts in their eight games thus far this season.
• Otterbein is ranked No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches Division III Region VII Poll.
• Head coach Brandon Koons, now in his 26th year at Otterbein, holds an all-time record of 343-103-44 with the Cardinals.